A Smart Move on China

Published: February 6, 1995

The Clinton Administration's announcement of 100 percent punitive tariffs on more than $1 billion of Chinese exports signals a consistent, well-targeted and well-executed policy for combating Chinese piracy of American software, movies and music. With careful diplomacy, the Administration can build on this move to toughen its stand on human rights and other issues.

The trade sanctions announced Saturday were carefully designed to win maximum support from U.S. business. They may not force an agreement before actually coming into effect, along with Chinese countermeasures, on Feb. 26. Although both sides would like to avoid a trade war, the Chinese leadership now seems paralyzed by the imminent succession of Deng Xiaoping and afraid to make any compromises with foreigners. But the "intellectual property rights" that are at the heart of this dispute are the right place for Washington to make a stand. They represent the future of America's economy and global commerce.

The appetite for American culture and information-age technology is worldwide. These sectors of the economy represent America's great hope for future dynamism and prosperity. Tolerating the massive circulation of cheaply made Chinese reproductions, which are now sold throughout Asia, would seriously undermine American producers.

In an earlier round of this dispute in 1992, China passed strong laws against copyright piracy. But Beijing has failed to enforce these laws even in state-owned companies.

Copyright piracy is an issue American business rightly feels strongly about, to the point of being willing to risk a trade war. Key Republicans, like House Speaker Newt Gingrich, have been quick to support the Administration's stand.

Washington aimed its sanctions to minimize disruption of the U.S. economy by avoiding components like computer circuit boards and consumer products like toys for which China was the only, or principal, source.

The message of this strong stand on intellectual-property issues will also be heard in other Asian and third-world countries where copyright piracy is a growing problem.

Critics rightly lament that similar firmness was not shown last year over the issue of human rights. A State Department report last week newly documented China's flagrant human rights abuses, which appear to have gotten worse in the months since the Clinton Administration broke the link it had earlier established between China's human rights performance and its trade privileges.

But the challenge now is not to rewrite the past but to better integrate U.S. human rights, military and trade objectives.

The imminent nomination of a new U.S. Ambassador to Beijing should be the occasion for a careful reconsideration of Washington's diplomatic approach. A White House meeting on China policy already scheduled for this week should no longer limit itself to fine-tuning.

While the strategy of engagement is right, a more tough-minded approach is in order, not just on trade but on questions from human rights to repression in Tibet and Chinese threats against Taiwan. President Clinton's reported nominee, former Senator Jim Sasser of Tennessee, knows how quickly and forcefully Republican senators like Jesse Helms, Frank Murkowski and Mitch McConnell will raise these issues if the Administration does not.

By refusing to link trade sanctions to these other objectives the Administration limits its leverage. Since the Chinese military may help pick the next political leadership, military cooperation between Washington and Beijing should be maintained. But there are other pressure points, such as China's intense desire for an American Presidential visit and gestures that might increase the international prestige of President Jiang Zemin.

Good relations between the U.S. and China are in the long-term interests of both countries -- America needs China's markets and diplomatic cooperation, China needs America's capital exports and its strategic alliance against any future expansionist power in Asia. Those relations will not achieve their full potential until Beijing's leaders pay more heed to international trading rules and the human rights of their own people.